Phillip Toledano thinks that his life as an artist is akin to that of a dictator:
t occurred to me that being an artist is a great deal like being a dictator.
Just like a dictator, I must live in a closed loop of self-delusion. A place where my words and ideas always ring true. A gilded daydream of grandiosity. There can be no room for doubt. I must be convinced that I have something vital to say. I must believe that the world is waiting in keen anticipation to hear my message.
But taking over and ruling a population of a small nation is much harder than it looks, so he took the next logical step: he commissioned paintings of himself, posing as various great dictators!